Beneath The Mask
by SandXDemonX13
Summary: After being unable to win Sasuke over and convince him that his marriage will be a mistake, Itachi leaves the village. When he returns will Sasuke's pleas for help and claims of love be able to mend their relationship? ItaSasu, minor NejiSasu and ItaNaru


Hello all! I just had the idea for this story about a month ago, and I found that I could actually make a story out of it. I just plotted it all out a week ago before finishing this chapter. I think it is a very unique story for me because it is the first to have a relationship between Itachi and Naruto as well as Sasuke and Neji. But anyway, I hope that you all enjoy.

And yes, some of the characters might seem a bit OOC, but just think of it like this, they aren't ninjas, Itachi never killed their family, so Sasuke has reason to be happy. They aren't living with Mikoto and Fugaku though, Itachi is living on his own and asked if Sasuke wanted to live with him. So we will probably only see Mikoto and Fugaku about once in this story.

Pairings: Neji/Sasuke (established relationship), one-sided Itachi/Naruto, one-sided Itachi/Sasuke but eventually this will be a complete Itachi/Sasuke story.

Warnings: Mentions of incest, shonen-ai, language in later chapters, as well as abuse and boys and brothers kissing and such what. If you don't like anything in this list then GO AWAY! This is your one and only warning!

Rating: T for this chapter, but the overall rating is M.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Beneath The Mask**

**Chapter One**

* * *

Attraction. The smallest and lightest spark of attraction was all he could feel as he looked upon the younger's face. It was something new; something that hadn't been there until now, and he had no idea why he was suddenly finding himself attracted to the teenager. It was wrong, he knew, but he wouldn't deny how good it was feeling to indulge himself with perverse thoughts. Behind all the thoughts, behind every mental picture that flashed through his mind, he wondered just when he had begun thinking of his brother this way.

But then, suddenly, it was no longer a mystery. There was no long story behind it all, there never had been in fact even though he knew it had been going on for an extremely long time. But how could he have forgotten? How was he able to forget the countless nights he had been kept awake with thoughts of the boy? How could he have forgotten his deep, intensely burning feelings when Sasuke was all that was on his mind? There was no mystery; he knew that much as he continued to look upon his brother without the younger's knowledge. For him alone, there was only an undying love, and a need to love the boy as he should be, but how he knew he could never love him.

There was nothing else. Sasuke was his everything; he had done everything in his power simply to make the boy happy. He had never wanted anything in return because his brother's smile had always been enough. So if…_this_ was what the boy wanted; if _this_ was what made him happy, then he had no reason to deny the teenager what he wanted. He had no reason because Sasuke would never look at him the way he wanted him to. But that was okay. He was beginning to accept that he was to be alone, chasing quietly and desperately after his brother, for the rest of his life. And for some reason, it didn't bother him. As long as Sasuke stayed with him then he didn't mind his beloved being taken away by…by _him_.

It might have hurt but Sasuke seemed happy, and to Itachi, Sasuke was all that mattered.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Hyuga Neji, oh how Itachi loathed the name and the boy. He was the boy that had taken his Sasuke; he was the boy that didn't seem to care about the horrid crime he had committed. Neji was the boy he was currently watching kiss the same boy he had stolen from Itachi. And Itachi watched intently as the kiss continued…and continued, looking like it had gone on for hours and would never cease. But finally, after only a few seconds, the two dark-haired boys broke apart and Itachi watched as Sasuke smiled shyly before bidding goodbye to the Hyuga once again, though neither made any move to leave the other.

Jealousy was not a color that particularly suited Itachi, nor was it something that he felt too often. But this boy, this _Hyuga_ had made him feel more jealous than he'd ever want to feel again in his life. No matter how often he told himself that Sasuke's happiness mattered, and if Sasuke was happy then he was as well, he could never get over the feelings welling up inside of him when he saw even a glimmer of Neji's face.

Itachi continued to watch the couple as he put his jealousy aside for the moment, knowing that they knew he was watching, but not caring in the least. He watched as Sasuke smiled again and laughed at whatever it was the brunette was saying. His eyes moved to look at the ground for a moment as a feeling of hopelessness washed over him. Sasuke never smiled like that for him; he had never caused Sasuke to laugh in such a joyful fashion. The pain in his heart continued to grow stronger while his loathing for Neji grew deeper as the realization hit him hard in the gut. There was now a very good chance that his brother was going to leave him.

Though Itachi knew he should be extremely happy for his brother for finding someone to love he couldn't help but feel selfish. He didn't want Sasuke to leave him alone; he didn't know if he could actually live and watch the two of them be happy together. It disgusted him really, that he could be so…angry about his brother's relationship; he was disgusted with himself for feeling so incredibly jealous about all of this.

Finally, for a moment, Itachi placed his feelings aside and brought his gaze back up just to find Sasuke closing the door and looking just a bit too happy, which now didn't bother Itachi as much since Neji had left his sight. So it was now, if only for a little while, that he could pretend that it was he who had produced that happiness; he could sink further into his world of love and obsession over his brother and think, if only for a moment, that his Sasuke was smiling euphorically because of his kisses and his touches, not _Neji's_.

"Itachi," Sasuke began, eliciting a look of complete attention from his brother, "Neji and I have been talking," Itachi had to hold himself back from speaking poorly about the boy his brother seemed so infatuated with. "Yes, I see the two of you _talking_ for hours every day in the doorway," his reply, which he patted himself on the back for, was relatively calm and smooth, almost tricking him into thinking that he didn't care at all about their relationship. Sasuke hid his blush for the most part, but the light tint of pink that dusted his cheeks made Itachi stand up and head up to his bedroom so that he didn't have to look at the beautiful and innocent seventeen-year-old any longer.

"Well we've been talking about you," Itachi had no reaction to the words as Sasuke followed him down the hallway and into his room, not noticing that his elder brother didn't want this conversation to carry on further. "He thinks, and I'm beginning to agree with him, that you need someone. You've been staring at us for the past two weeks and…frankly it's kinda starting to creep me out. If you like Neji then you can just tell me, that way I know and I'll stop bringing him around." Itachi chuckled lightly, though it went unnoticed by Sasuke as the boy continued to speak, "I don't want you to be angry with me for dating the guy you like."

Itachi was silent as his brother finally stopped speaking and looked at him, expecting some sort of reply. "And how," he began as he sat on his bed, making quite sure to keep his gaze away from his brother entirely, "did you come to the conclusion that I like the male gender?" It was quite a simple question but Sasuke began to look a little panicked. "…I didn't really… Neji just thought that you might like…well you know, guys…and I thought that it didn't sound too far off… I've never seen you with any girls and all your friends are male." Sasuke's response was hesitant, like he was afraid to upset his brother with his words.

"Did you never think that maybe I'm just not interested in dating?"

"…No…" Itachi nodded slowly as he placed his hands in his lap. "Very well," the words caught Sasuke off guard just slightly. "…Very well…?" A sigh left the elder's lips and he finally forced himself to look at his brother. He knew he was going to regret saying this but he had to be able to stay close to Sasuke without being suspected of other things. "Who would the two of you like to set me up with?"

The bright smile that appeared on Sasuke's lips suddenly made the entire situation worthwhile to Itachi. "Really?" Itachi didn't nod or make any move but he did feel like smiling himself when Sasuke laughed out of happiness. "We'll all go out tomorrow then! I've gotta go call Neji now!" Itachi's world, for the moment, felt complete as he continued to watch his brother smile so beautifully. It didn't matter that the teenager ran from the room seconds later without telling him just who he was going to be seeing the next day; all that mattered was that he had actually caused such heart-stopping beauty to come across his brother's already angelic face.

And in his suddenly perfect world, Itachi didn't even realize that he had just agreed to something which he knew he would never enjoy.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Tomorrow came all too soon for Itachi, and his dreaded "double date" was in progress, though his…_date_ seemed to be nowhere in sight. He, Sasuke and _Neji_ sat in a fairly empty shop, which Itachi had initially found a very…interesting setting for a date, to say the least, but he didn't question his brother's choice, even if it had been Neji's.

After scanning the room another few times, taking ample time to watch the couple across from him out of the corner of his eye of course, he finally noticed someone walk in the room. The blonde hair was a dead giveaway for who it was and it only disappointed Itachi further, though he knew that his brother would never set him up with Naruto. "Oh, there he is!" when he heard the excited words leave his brother's lips, Itachi looked over at him and gave him a look that said simply, are you serious?

Sasuke gave the elder a disapproving look before smiling at Naruto as the blonde teenager began walking over to the table they sat at. "I don't want you to be mean now, Itachi. Naruto really likes you and I want you to try and get along with him." Silence enveloped them as Itachi thought over his brother's words, instantly halting the sigh that wanted to leave his lips when he looked over and saw Naruto even closer to their table.

"Hi everyone!" the Uzumaki seemed overly happy to be seeing all of them and his gaze seemed to stay on the elder Uchiha for just a bit too long, much against Itachi's liking. Sasuke and Neji nodded to their friend as he moved quickly and took the empty chair to Itachi's right, opposite Neji. The moment the blonde teenager's bottom made contact with the chair, Sasuke stood up, half yanking Neji up with him since he grabbed the brunette's arm as an afterthought. Itachi's eyes immediately narrowed when he figured out just what his brother was doing and he made to stand up so that he could just leave and end all this nonsense. Sasuke's tiny smile halted any movement that he wanted to make though and his eyes were almost glued to his brother's face for moments.

"We," Sasuke began, pulling on Neji's arm once more to uproot him from his chair while ignoring the surprised look that appeared on the teenager's face, "are going to leave you two alone." Without another word Sasuke began to walk off, leading Neji away from the others much against the elder's will. Itachi watched them go and once they had left the shop he continued to stare at the doorway, finding that it was easier to look at that then to look at the boy he had been left alone with.

Naruto looked around the space they were left in with a small smile on his face, partly ignoring how silent his date seemed to be. He knew how Itachi was and silence was something that just happened to define him almost completely. "…So," the blonde began, just to break the awkwardness that enveloped them at the moment, "I know this is probably weird for you…" Itachi had to stop the scoff that wanted to answer the teenager. _You have no idea_ was all he finally managed, and only as a thought, which wasn't much helping anything.

With the silence beginning to get to Naruto, he bit his lip lightly before moving his hand and placing it on Itachi's, which effectively drew the man's attention away from the door and to his date. "I know that you don't do this kind of thing much…or at all, by what Sasuke's told me, so if you just want me to go then I can. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." The caring and concern that flooded Naruto's voice nearly made Itachi break out with a tiny smile, and only because he had never heard such a tone from anyone before, at least it had never been aimed at himself.

Still, Itachi said nothing though, and Naruto finally dropped his hand from the Uchiha's, balling it into a fist a moment later and laying it on his lap along with his other hand. "So…I'm just going to take your silence as your way of telling me to get lost," the blonde laughed quietly to himself after he spoke and began to get up a moment later, still not hearing a word from Itachi, though it didn't surprise him. It was only after he took a step away did he hear the man behind him sigh before he began to talk, "No," Itachi began, feeling that he needed to do this, "you don't have to go. I'm just not used to this."

Naruto turned around to look at Itachi, a small smile on his lips, and after a few seconds of watching the impassive look on the elder's face, he walked back and sat down once again.

**TBC…**

* * *

A/N: And there is chapter one! I really like it and I hope that you all do as well. Don't worry much about the whole Itachi/Naruto thing because it won't last long at all. By chapter 5 it'll be gone completely, and we probably will rarely see any Neji/Sasuke. So nobody worry much, Itachi and Sasuke will be together eventually! I do hope that you all review though and tell me what you think about this. I would really appreciate your input! Thank you.

SandXDemonX13

TTYFTDS


End file.
